Blog · Waterloo
Waterloo's new rental licence rules: what landlords need sorted before renewal
The City of Waterloo replaced its rental licensing bylaw on July 1, 2026. If you own a student house in Northdale or a converted duplex near uptown, the renewal now asks for more paperwork, and some of it can only be signed by a licensed trade. Here is how to split the work so the licence is not held up.
Last updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the Waterloo Handyman team
Who needs a Waterloo long-term rental licence
The City requires a long-term rental licence if you rent out a unit for more than 30 days at a time. Rental units in apartment buildings do not need one. The bylaw sorts low-rise rentals into classes, including Class A (not owner-occupied, five bedrooms or fewer) and Class B (owner-occupied, with five or fewer tenant bedrooms), plus lodging houses and short-term rentals. Licences expire every year, so renewal is an annual job, not a one-time hurdle.
This is a City of Waterloo bylaw. A rental in St. Jacobs or Elmira sits in Woolwich Township and a unit in Kitchener falls under Kitchener's rules, so check with that municipality instead.
What the application asks for now
According to the City's long-term licence page, every applicant provides:
- The application form and proof of ownership, plus government-issued ID for owners and corporate principals
- An insurance declaration dated within the past 12 months
- An electrical system inspection form, completed by a licensed electrician and dated within 12 months
- A floor plan of every level of the unit, clearly labelled, with measurements and the bedroom count
- A parking plan with measurements of garages, driveways and other parking areas
Two items are new as of July 1, 2026:
- A gas or oil heating inspection completed by a licensed gas fitter within the last 12 months, or a declaration that the property has no gas or oil appliances
- A criminal record check for owners who live in a Class B unit
The bylaw also requires the property to comply with the Fire Code, the Building Code, and property standards, and sets minimum bedroom floor areas. The City can inspect to check compliance, including taking photographs.
Which items belong to a licensed trade
Two of the forms are, by their own wording, licensed-trade paperwork. The handyman cannot sign them, and should not be doing the work behind them either.
- Electrical inspection form. Book a licensed electrician. Any fix the electrician flags, such as a missing cover plate on a live box, a dead outlet, or an ungrounded circuit, is theirs to correct.
- Gas or oil heating inspection. Book a licensed gas fitter for the furnace, water heater, and any gas range or fireplace. Nobody else touches those appliances.
Both forms have to be dated within 12 months of the application, so an inspection done early last year will not carry over. Book both early. In a city where many student leases turn over between late April and September, electricians and gas fitters are busy at exactly the time renewals come due.
What a handyman can clear before the licence date
Most of what makes a student house look tired, and much of what shows up on a property standards list, is carpentry and patching rather than wiring. That is the part the handyman takes on through rental property maintenance:
- Doors and locks. Bedroom doors that do not latch, stripped strike plates, broken closet doors off their track, and deadbolts or handle sets that need swapping between tenants. See door, lock and trim repairs.
- Walls. Doorknob holes, pulled-out anchors from shelves and TV mounts, and nail pops, patched and primed so the painter can follow. See small repairs and drywall patching.
- Stairs and rails. Loose handrails and wobbly newel posts, re-fastened into solid framing.
- Bathrooms. Old caulk cut out and replaced, towel bars and toilet-paper holders re-anchored, loose vanity doors re-hung.
- Outside. Loose deck boards, a gate that drags, a leaning fence panel, and weatherstripping on exterior doors.
- Alarms. Battery or plug-in smoke and CO alarms installed or replaced where the house calls for them. Hardwired alarms go to the electrician. Our post on Ontario smoke and CO alarm rules covers where they have to be.
Measure the floor plan while you are there
The floor plan has to show measurements and the bedroom count, and bedrooms have minimum sizes under the bylaw. If the handyman is already walking the house for a turnover list, it is an efficient time to measure each room so the plan you submit matches what is actually built. If a room is borderline, find out before the application, not after.
A practical order of operations
- Pull last year's licence and note the expiry date.
- Book the licensed electrician and the gas fitter for the same week if you can.
- Walk the house with the outgoing tenant's move-out date in mind and write one list of every repair, room by room.
- Send that list, with photos, for a written quote. The quote marks anything that belongs to an electrician, plumber or gas fitter.
- Book the handyman for the gap between move-out and move-in, and ask for all items on one visit where possible.
- Submit the application once every dated form is in hand.
Grouping several houses into one list is usually the cheapest way to buy this kind of work. The Waterloo handyman cost guide explains how half-day and full-day lists are priced. When your list is ready, send it through the contact page.